Shut the Covanta Incinerator in Stanislaus County!

4/1/06 Hundreds Join Protest against Covanta incinerator and for Environmental Justice in San Joaquin Valley. Read Press Release and Modesto Bee coverage.

Stop Dumping on the West Side! Read the fact sheet on pollution threats to community health!

Stanislaus County residents and Greenaction fight Covanta garbage incinerator. Read fact sheet in English and Spanish.

12/16/02 Read Greenaction's Comments to the San Joaquin Valley Air District opposing Covanta's application for a Title V Clean Air Act permit for their incinerator in Crow's Landing, CA

West Side Residents and Greenaction Protest Covanta Incinerator

For more information, contact:

Rosenda Mataka Grayson Neighborhood Council	(209) 895-3352
Bradley Angel Greenaction	(415) 248-5010

Residents tell Board of Supervisors:
“ Stop Dumping Waste from Around the State and Other States on the West Side!”

“Stop the Covanta Incinerator, Increase Recycling and Waste Reduction!”

Grayson, CA – Forty residents of communities on the west side of Stanislaus County and community and environmental justice groups protested in front of the City and County Government Building tonight to demand an end to the importation and burning of wastes from other states and counties at the Covanta garbage incinerator in Crow’s Landing.

At 6:30 p.m. community members spoke out at the Stanislaus County Board of Supervisors meeting to testify about their concerns. Residents are upset that County officials actively seek to import waste from other areas to burn at the incinerator, especially since the incinerator emits dioxin and other highly toxic pollutants into the air. Dioxin is the most toxic substance known to science, even at low levels of exposure. Dioxin causes cancer, birth defects, reproductive illnesses and other health problems.

After the residents and supporters spoke, a county “environmental” staff member spoke, and showed a slide provided by Covanta claiming emissions were low. Covanta then spoke as well, but was challenged by residents who demanded an opportunity to rebut the misleading statements made by the county and Covanta officials.

The Grayson Neighborhood Council recently got documents from Stanislaus County officials documenting the types of waste imported for incineration from other states and counties. Residents were alarmed to learn that waste was being burned from Oregon, Nevada and Washington and many counties across California.

Although many believed the incinerator just burned garbage, it also burns drugs and other contraband, firearms, used oil filters, shredded plastic, toner cartridges and pharmaceuticals. The Grayson Neighborhood Council and Greenaction want the Covanta incinerator closed down, and recycling and waste prevention measures greatly increased.

“ I want our community to have air that is free of the most deadly toxics like dioxin," said Gloria Diaz, resident of Grayson. "My sister has asthma and I don’t want the burning of garbage, because it can affect the children in the county,” said Alicia Serrano, Grayson resident.
 
" The Covanta incinerator burning garbage is another example of environmental racism on the Westside!" said John Mataka of the Grayson Neighborhood Council. "Shut down Covanta and put in a Recycling facility!" said Jen Alcantar, Patterson resident.

“Incinerators cannot safely destroy the waste and they emit some of the most toxic substances known to science,” said Bradley Angel, Executive Director of Greenaction for Health and Environmental Justice. “The county needs to support real recycling and renewable energy, and stop using an incinerator that burns waste from far and wide.”

Residents also received support from the Global Alliance for Incinerator Alternatives and from several visitors who are fighting incinerators in their own communities in Puerto Rico and England.